No More Spoilers
by ForeverDreamer12
Summary: It was just another one of Time's mysteries. The Doctor, dead? No . . . it couldn't be. "So many die from poison now, Doctor. Of tasting the fruit of the world and finding it too bittersweet, choosing to taste no more rather than face it again and again and again. They are your true masters, Time Lord. They are the ones you cannot save." READ AUTHORS NOTES INSIDE! VERY IMPORTANT!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! It's ForeverDreamer12 again.**

**I actually didn't write this, one of my friends did. (She doesn't have an account.) Please review! If you like it, don't follow/favorite me, follow/favorite the story. I didn't write it. **

**Enjoy! :D**

**~No More Spoilers ~**

Chapter 1

I hurried down the street and turned the corner. Were they still following me? More importantly, why were they following me in the first place? I saw a foot step around the corner and I dove for the nearest cover, which, unfortunately, turned out to be a rather smelly dumpster. But hey! It was better than being killed by aliens.

Their leader went haring by. He looked just like the others, except for that he had a bigger head and a stain of red on the side of his shoe, which I had a feeling wasn't ketchup. As the others followed, I saw that one at the back was scattering little green things that were not flowers. _Rats. _Those not-flowers were tracking devices which could follow a victim, were able to think on their own, could annihilate a person with a single laser blast, could record your voice, could alter your voice, could play your favorite song, and came in 11 different colors: green, dark green, darker green, darkest green, darker-than-darkest green, so-green-it-might-as-well-be-black green, so-black-it-might-as-well-be-green green, light green, emerald green, sea green, and hot pink.

The devices started to hover and glow, then turned on me. It played an undercurrent of "Barbie Girl" as it spoke. "YOU ARE UNAUTHORIZED. YOUR EXISTENCE WILL END."

Oh dear.

The aliens had me this time. I knew I couldn't run forever. I had known that the whole time. I fumbled in my pocket until I pulled out the battered old wallet, containing nothing but a wrinkled piece of paper - or whatever I needed it to show. I hadn't seen it used since Uncle showed it to a security guard to get us into Disneyland. The security guard had believed him, even though he said he was Walt himself. I could never remember his name, so I always just called him Uncle. The only people who knew his real name were he and Aunt Mel.

"See? Look! I'm authorized! _Authorized_!" My voice rose to a shrill squeak as the Devices kept coming. I opened the wallet and held it extended at arm's length, my face turned away in case it didn't work. "_I'm authorized!_"

The Devices stopped. I sighed with relief. "See? Authorized."

I picked myself up and removed a smelly old banana peel from my hair. I dusted myself off, replaced the wallet in my pocket, and looked around.

It was then that I noticed the blaster.

You might think that a 3-foot laser blaster staring you in the face might be kind of obvious, especially when operated by a small, green, glowing Device. Of _course _it wouldn't work on them. They were _machines_!

The Device wailed, "YOU ARE UNAUTHORIZED. YOUR EXISTENCE WILL END." I backed up until my spine was pressed against the wall. It hovered closer, closer, leveled the blaster at my face...

...and exploded. I blinked as the other devices scurried away, shrieking frantically in their small, tinny voices. As the smoke cleared, I perceived Aunt Mel, re-holstering a blaster of her own. She looked 30, even though she was much older. It was impossible to tell how old she actually was, however, so I just assumed she was always 30. She looked at me, hands on her hips, one high-heeled foot stuck jauntily out at her side. How she managed to balance, much less shoot Devices, in 6-inch heels, I'll never know. "Well, come on, honey, we haven't got all day!"

I remained glued to the wall.

"It's all right, they're gone. You can detach yourself from the wall now."

I carefully removed one arm, then the other, from the wall; then I peeled the rest of my body away. "Are you _sure _the Devices are gone?"

"Absolutely positive. Now come on." She grabbed my wrist and walked briskly away from the dumpster with me trailing behind her, trying desperately to keep up. She talked all the while. "Uncle has found a way to get here. Don't know how he found it; don't even know what the way is. We needed to come and get you. You are old enough that we can't hide you effectively anymore, so instead, you are coming along with us. Simply-" We had reached Uncle's door by now, as he was parked nearby "- we can't hide, but we can run. Come on." She pulled open one of the double doors and yanked me inside, then collapsed in a chair.

I took the chance to take a look around. Uncle's home was lined with lights. I don't know why. I guess he just liked lights. There was a small island in the center of the main room, and countless other rooms, of all kinds. My personal favorite was the library. The island had a tube with an oddly shaped glass thing inside which looked like a beaker out of some mad scientist's lab. Uncle's TARDIS never ceased to amaze me.

As I gazed around, What Aunt Mel had just said sank in. "Wait...run from what? What have you been hiding me from? Does it have something to do with the aliens that created the Devices? Where are we going? And most importantly, where is Uncle? I thought he was the only one that knew how to drive this thing."

Aunt Mel sighed, then slowly started to speak. "First of all, You must promise me that you won't start panicking." I promised. "Second, you have a choice. To stay or to go. You can listen to what I say, but once you take on the responsibility that comes with it, you can't turn back. This is your last chance to lead a normal life. What do you choose?"

It was the easiest decision I had ever made. "I'll stay."

She sighed again. "Okay. It's complicated. The least confusing part is that I am 8,904 years old."

"_What?_"

"I told you it was complicated. I know I look 30, but that's the way it is. I've only got about a thousand years left, and that is part of why I came to get you. Somebody needs to keep traveling.

"Those aliens that were after you? They're not _nearly_ the worst of it. They couldn't fly, couldn't swim, couldn't turn you into a metal man, couldn't turn you against yourself, couldn't suck the living soul from your body. There are those who can. And you will meet them."

"**_If_** I choose to stay."

"No, you will meet them. The time for choices is past."

I shivered. My skin crawled. "Are those aliens who we're running from?"

"No."

"Then which ones _are _we running from? And where are we running?"

I could see her contemplating how much to tell me. She decided on a half-truth; I am very good at reading faces. "We are running from something much more dangerous: discovery. We can't have you being discovered by any alien race that was able to leave the Earth. They would notify all the others, and they would all come racing round to kill you."

"And just what exactly do we not want the aliens to discover?"

She heaved herself out of the chair and crouched down to my level, the way I always thought my mother would. "Put your hand on your heart." I dutifully slid my right hand to my chest. "No, your other one."

"Other hand?"

"Other _heart_."

I was dumbfounded. She took my hand and placed it on the well-known location of my heart. I could feel its beat. Then, she moved it away from my heart and to the other side of my chest. I felt a beat there, too. She turned her gaze upward and looked me in the eyes. My mouth was standing open. "Two hearts!" All the times I'd said the pledge of allegiance and never bothered to check.

"Yes, two hearts. What kind of creature has two hearts?"

I had no idea, but I answered without hesitating: "Time Lord or Lady." I stared at her. "How did I know that?"

"Because you are one. That's what we don't want the aliens to discover. Uncle thought he was the last. For a while, he was."

"Wait... Uncle was one, too?"

"Yes, and so am I. Actually, I am half human, but that doesn't matter in this case. You are Time Lord. And another thing; you should probably stop calling him Uncle. To aliens, he is Fear. To everyone else, he is the Doctor. To you, he is your father." _What? _

"Uncle -sorry, the Doctor- is who? I mean, my _what_? I mean..."

"Yep. I know it's a lot to process, but..."

"Speaking of Un- _Doctor_, where is he? I thought he'd be here by now."

Aunt Mel, who I suppose was my mum now, looked down, then back up at me, and sighed, the exhalation of someone weather-worn and tired of running. "Your father, if he had chosen to settle down, could have had a wonderful life. But as the Doctor, he couldn't stop. Adrenaline is addictive. You are probably getting a taste of that, running from aliens your whole life. Chasing Cybermen and Daleks was what he did. He had to be busy.

"The Doctor wasn't the sort of man who could be a dependable father, when he could be blasted at any minute, regenerate, and come back as a different man. Who knew what he would turn out to be. Maybe he would be kind and forgiving, but maybe he would be the type of man who couldn't stand children. So we decided that it would be best if we introduced him to your life as an uncle, a sort of godfather figure who could pop in and out, show you new experiences, and watch you grow up from a distance." She was crying now. "He loved you so much...right up until–" She paused and swallowed. "–he was killed in the middle of his regeneration. A Dalek shot him. He used to talk about things you would make for him, like the time when were four and you drew the TARDIS for him. He was so proud of you." She broke down completely. I was dumbfounded. I had never seen her cry. I didn't even know she **_could_** cry.

I ran towards her and was folded in an embrace. She released me, pulled a paper off the tube in the middle of the center island, and handed it to me. It was a bright blue rectangle with a small yellow rectangle on top. Next to it was a circle with a face on it and arms and legs extending out of the sides. Now I was crying too, and I hugged Aunt Mel again, because on the front of the circle was a scraggly, scribbly bowtie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Gosh, I love my friend so much. She made up an ****entire language**** for these aliens she made up to speak.**

**Please review. She'll love you for it.**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

After we had both finished crying, I folded up the drawing carefully and slipped it into an inside pocket. "So, now what?"

"Hold on tight to something. The TARDIS is a little unnerving the first time you ride her." I seized the railing with both hands as we took off. Even so, my head was whipped back as we started. "Hmm. Bit of a jagged start. She doesn't like your world much at this particular moment in the time stream."

I noticed that the TARDIS was oddly quiet as we took off. "What happened to that sort of wheezy noise the TARDIS used to make?"

Aunt Mel smirked. "It wasn't supposed to make that noise. Your father left the brakes on." The smirk disappeared. "I tried to make her wheeze once, just so I could hear it again and remember when I used to go soaring all over the galaxy with the Doctor. We were both so young then."

She blushed. "Just thinking about it makes me smile. He took me to see the stars once. More stars in a single sky than ever before. It was amazing, but I don't think it would have been as wonderful if he wasn't there. There were all kinds of constellations that I never knew about, and stories about races of people on planets orbiting them. He told me about them all."

She looked up at the screen and pressed a button. "It was the first kiss for me, and the last for him. That's the sad part about living backwards. Sweet and sad. There was only one meeting when we were ever at the same point in time, and we were both actually there. All the rest was past for me, future for him. I was never seeing him, just ghosts of his past self."

Aunt Mel reached across me to pull a lever and press another button. "I suppose that's all I have now, too, so it's not that different. But the old ghosts were someone I could see, someone I could talk to, someone I could fall in love with. Not anymore." She jerked her head up and pulled a second lever as a red light started to flash and beep.

"What happened when you tried to make the TARDIS wheeze?" I asked.

"She wouldn't listen. She won't wheeze for me. She just runs silently since he left. She loved him, too." She released the controls and hurried to the door. "Well, let's see where we are! Allons-y!" She opened the door and stepped out. I followed.

For a first trip, it wasn't bad, but definitely not what I expected. When I was with Uncle on various trips we took, we were usually either going back in time or traveling around the world, but always on earth. This was different. There were all types of new plants I had never seen before: green flowers with purple and pink leaves, trees with fruit the size of basketballs, leaves so big I could use them as blankets, trumpet vines that hissed at us as we passed under, giant ferns large enough to thatch a roof. It looked like someone had used them for just that purpose. Off in the distance was a cluster of round huts with ferns for roofs, and just behind them, a rosy-orange morning

mist.

"It looks like someone lives here, then!"

Aunt Mel just laughed. "Wait'll you see."

"See what? I already know that there's probably some strange kind of alien living there."

"No..." we came over the top of a hill "...see this."

I looked down and gasped. Below us was a clear city, which looked like it was made completely of glass of all colors. Pale green, light pink and faint blue tinged the sides of the opalescent structures, rising high into the sky like blown candy castles. It was like they weren't even built, more like they had flown down and were floating off the ground. I wondered what sort of articulate, dainty, beautiful creature would have the skill to build structures so light and airy that I was afraid to touch them.

In between the buildings ran a thin aisle which I assumed was a road, but even it didn't look like the roads at home. It wasn't asphalt, but some other substance that seemed to send off a glow, almost surrounded by an aura of light. Creatures moved about on it, but they were too distant for adequate observation. The whole place was reminiscent of the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz, only ten times more beautiful. I was speechless.

"A very safe planet," Aunt Mel commented. "I chose one with breathable air, hospitable aliens, and non-poisonous, non-carnivorous plants, as well as clement weather conditions. It's a very beautiful planet, too," she added as we started down the hill. "Some even call it the Garden of Eden, although it's a bit too populated for that. Most humans go mad at the sight of it; I'm surprised you aren't."

"I'm not human."

"True."

As we got closer to the bottom of the hill, I was able to observe its inhabitants in more detail. They were quite different from my idea of an alien, which was a little green guy with a big head (media alien) or a tall person dressed all in black with a head that looked like decaying meat with eyes (real alien). They had swept-back crests on the top of their heads which seemed to be made from feathers, or some similar material. The backs of their hands were also covered with feathers, as were the tips of their graceful, elongated fingers. _They would have made excellent pianists_, I thought. They were tall and lithe and lean, but still looked healthy. The younger ones clung to their mothers one moment, then dashed away to play with something the next. They had down instead of full-grown feathers, and their crests looked more like strips of fluff on their heads. Their clothes were close-fitting on top, and hung more loosely on the bottom. They were as beautiful as their city, and seemed to fit with it, almost like they had grown there.

We were about 3/4 of the way down when we were spotted. "Mika!" shouted one, and they all turned to look up at us. There was a pause as I wondered whether they were going to attack us.

I held up my hands. "We come in peace!"

Aunt Mel batted my arms down. "They don't know anything _but _peace." Then she turned towards them and yelled, "Hello!"

Instantly, there was a cry of joy and a flurry of movement as all the young ones rushed up to Aunt Mel. "Keri River!" They tugged on her skirts, her arms, each other, pulling her down towards the village. I followed the group, feeling neglected. She beamed on them like they were her own children. They talked to her, always calling her Keri River.

"Jundar! Keri River's here!"

"Where have you been?"

"Miri! Keri has come!"

"Did you bring me any candy, Keri River?"

"You promised to tell me about the galaxy!"

"What has been going on?"

"Where's Kera Doctor?"

"Where's the ZELDIN?"

"I have a new baby sister. Did you know that, Keri River?"

"Do you know everything?"

By this time, they had gotten her the rest of the way down the hill and all the adults were crowding around her, too. I watched from a distance. I heard them talking in some sort of language which I didn't understand, and which sounded almost familiar, but not quite. Aunt Mel spoke easily and freely, totally comfortable. She laughed and joked with them as the younger ones vied for her attention. One of the very young ones ran into a house nestled comfortably beside one of the candy-bubble buildings and came out, after much excited shouting, leading what looked like her grandmother by the arm. Aunt Mel walked over and embraced the old woman warmly, then knelt down to speak to her. Everyone calmed down a bit as Aunt Mel and the grandmother spoke, lapsing between alien and English.

"River, my girl!" exclaimed the old alien. "We were all wondering when you'd return home! Where have you been?"

"Adanta. Par Adanta. Era de soras et kirampanes."

"Really! How far away? What stars and planets?"

"Par, par adanta, alda adanta din tana sira et swanta. A sela de Earth, de Asylum, de Raxacoricafalipitorias..."

"Rack of corn and fall off a door eat us?" piped up one whose name, I later learned, was Jundar.

"Raxacoricafalipitorias," repeated Aunt Mel, hoisting Jundar onto her knee. "It's hard to pronounce."

"River," put in the older alien, "where's the Doctor?"

The street fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop.

"He's...far away," said Aunt Mel, finally. "He left a long time ago. He should be back soon. If he's not, I will join him."

Jundar looked up. "If you go, will we see you again?"

"Yes, you will."

"Promise?"

Aunt Mel paused. "Yes. I Promise." She lifted Jundar off her knee and stood up, then said in a flat voice, "Well, then! Let's talk about...things, shall we? How about inside?"

"Hey, wait a minute!"

I wondered who had said that until I realized with some shock and more than a little embarrassment that it was me. Aunt Mel turned around. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something jolly well is wrong! Who are these people? Where is this? Why are they all calling you Keri River? What's the ZELDIN? What is Raxacoricafalipitorias? What language were you speaking a minute ago? And above all, why were you acting like I didn't even exist?"

Aunt Mel sighed. "Answering your questions, all in order, starting from the beginning. These people are the Wymvoi. This is their planet, Cardal. Keri is a term used to refer to one who is loved and respected; not a family member, but one who might as well be. They are calling me River because that is my name. The ZELDIN is the TARDIS. 'Time and relative dimension in space' roughly translates to 'Zara Et Lambar Dinosone In Narasa.' I was speaking Wymvon. Raxacoricafalipitorias is one planet I visited. We might end up there sometime, so I'm not going to spoil it for you." She turned back to the Wymvoi. "You can all head inside. I'll be there in a minute."

They departed with anxious looks, and she spoke to me again. I almost flinched at the difference in her tone. It was low and dangerous, like the soft growl of a tiger before it strikes. "Listen. The Wymvoi do not understand the concept of war, so you have absolutely nothing to fear from them. On the other hand, if you try to turn that against them, I will personally make sure that not only will you never come back here, but that you stay on earth for the rest of your life, running from aliens and hiding in dumpsters. Would you like that?"

I shook my head.

"This is my family. You may be mine biologically, but you have not earned my trust. Not like they have. I will do anything to protect them. I will not harm you, but I can make life awful by putting you back where you came from. Clear?"

I nodded.

"Good. Come on, then. Let's go." She gave me a hug, took my hand and we walked inside a plain wooden building.

It was crazy inside, a big hustle of Wymvoi men and women all talking excitedly and finding seats. Those who were light enough to sit on each other's laps did so, to save room. Aunt Mel sat down and pulled me onto her lap. The old Wymvoi woman's chair was pushed to the center of the room by two children, and she waited for everyone to be quiet before beginning. Aunt Mel translated, whispering into my ear.

"Sindare!"

"Friends!"

"Asa tinto era asa I Keri. Keri River."

"We have with us a Keri. Keri River."

"Esi selar tana sira et swanta– bes, alda din Tana sira et swanta – kirampanes et soras et narasa."

"She saw lots– no, more than lots– planets and stars and sky."

I interrupted. "Why do they have such a long word for lots? And how can there be more than lots?"

"Different culture. I'll explain later."

"... Asas Kera Doctor es par adanta, per Keri River es enste, et esi sont farlay por asa!"

"...Our Kera Doctor is very far away, but Keri River is here, and...she... is... going to.. speak for you all!" She boosted me off her lap, stood up, and spread her arms wide, as if receiving applause, but there was no applause. It took me a moment to realize that the Wymvoi were all nodding their heads, some vigorously, some not. It took me another moment to realize that this _was_ the applause. I was going to have trouble remembering that this was a different culture. I could already tell.

Aunt Mel lowered her hands. "Jonte peru. May I speak in Solar System, Earth, English, jente tanjo?" There was a murmur of assent. I made out the word "Calpi," which I took to mean yes. "I will try to _farla_ some of your words, too." Polite laughter. "First, I have some unfortunate news. Kera Doctor is on a long, one-way walk to Losvane."

The crowd gasped. Jundar let out a small shriek. Some of the children started to cry, but most of the adults were too shocked to cry.

"He was shot by a Dalek. They called him up to their ship to talk peace. Then, when he got there, they shot him. Exterminated. I am so sorry."

When she finished, there was a space of perhaps a few seconds, although it could have been Tana sira et swanta years, where everything was completely silent. It felt like nothing in the whole world, nothing in the whole _galaxy_ moved.

Then, together, without a single word, everyone took a breath. In that moment, I felt the ties at linked us all, across the universe, across many more, I was a part of something much larger, a single beating heart.

Or, rather, two hearts.

I think that was when I started to change. When I felt that bond. All my life, I'd had nobody holding my hand, nobody looking out for me. Now, I had all of time and space supporting me. A thousand cousins and family. Could I ever be a Keri to these people? In that second, I vowed that I would be, and I would protect their planet from all things, no matter if it cost me my life.

There was a bang, and an impact that shook the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the positive feedback you guys! Keep it coming, she's really loving it. :D**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

"Sanakara Down!" shrieked Aunt Mel, lapsing briefly into Wymvon. "Everybody down!" They obeyed without question. I followed suit. Aunt Mel (It was hard to think of her as that now! So much had changed in the last two hours.) stood above us all. I heard a _chink-chink _sound as she pulled out a pistol and cocked it. It was a six-shooter, such as a cowboy might have in one of those movies I used to sneak into. She planted her feet apart, pointing the gun at the door, and _let me tell you_ I promised myself never to get on her bad side.

"Daughter," she called, never taking her eyes off the door.

"Yes."

"Get everybody out."

"I can't talk to them!"

"Yes you can! The TARDIS translation circuit is hardwired into your brain. You just need to retrieve it."

I stood up on the platform River had previously been speaking from and addressed the huddled forms before me. "Ah... Tira Nira Boogedy Shooda?"

"Daughter..."

Okay, fudging it wasn't going to work this time. I sat on the steps and closed my eyes.

Circles swirled before my pupils like clock parts, tick-tick-ticking. they pulled out lines, arranged, and rearranged. Suddenly, I was there. I saw myself in a gown of film, light as a soap bubble. I glowed. I stepped through my mind. Then, I was there again. I stepped in from the other side of my brain. I was tough. I was mean. Years had made me like this. I was scarred on my wrist where the alien had grabbed me until I had twisted away. I stood with arms crossed, hood pulled all the way up, regarding myself coldly. I smirked at my own fairylike attire.

"I'll make this simple," I stated. "Why are you in my brain?"

"Because you aren't going to help them, are you?" I said. "You're going to sit here and be cool."

"You bet I am. And what are **_you _**going to do about it?" I snapped.

"I will offer you a choice," I murmured.

I cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of choice?"

"The choice to save them. Let me drive, just for a little while. I have the key to the vault you need to recover those words." I pulled out the key by a small gold chain around my neck.

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed at the key and pulled me up by it. "Give that key to me!"

"You're not going to help!" I squeaked. "Let go, you're choking me!"

I pulled the chain tighter. "Give me the key, damn you!"

"Agkc! No."

"FIGHT BACK, YOU IDIOTIC ANGEL!"

"I -cough- can't win."

"Give. Me. The f*% ing key!"

I didn't say anything. My glowing skin was starting to go blue. "You're as bad as the aliens you face," I finally managed. "They, too, have strangled their mercy."

I let go.

I fell back, to the floor of my mind.

I kept falling...

And fell into my body. Mercy had won. Ego had lost.

"Sindare!" I said. "I lastra es enste. Sanakara mushall stront en el Fortan arinix. Now. Go. Hurry. Jente Tanjo. HURRY!"

"Very good, Doctor."

"Daughter...?"

There was an indescribable sound.

The door burst open, and Wymvoi poured out the back, so River and I were alone with the intruder. I leapt aside as River fired shot after shot into the approaching fiend. The rock-monster at the door spit a wad of flame at her.

"MUM!" I screamed, and tackled her. We rolled aside. The floor burst into flames where she had been.

"WHERE IS THE GIRL?" roared the monster. I guess he hadn't heard my panicked scream. "GIVE US THE GIRL AND WE WILL GO!"

"What girl?" said River, pushing me behind a chair. "There are hundreds here."

"THE HALF-BREED! SHE IS NEEDED! WE WILL USE HER! SHE IS UNIQUE IN ALL THE UNIVERSE!"

"Never in a million years are you ever taking her," muttered River. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the door, firing a farewell shot as she went.

Once we were far enough from the building that its flames no longer toasted us, swe stopped, and River got down on her knees. "Daughter," she said, "Run. Run as fast and as far as you can, and don't look back. Promise me you won't look back!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'll join you in the TARDIS. Now, go!"

"Mum?"

"What?"

"I love you."

She closed her eyes. "I haven't heard that in years." Then she ran back towards the flames.

I'd like to say I didn't let her go. I'd like to say that I ran after her, that I stopped her and talked to her and made her come with me. But you never know what you did wrong until it's done. So I let her go.

Alien-fighting was not something I was good at. Running, however, was. I had been doing it all my life. I did it again now. I pounded the ground with my feet, to the same beat as my hearts, until they were both coming down simultaneously. _Slam. Slam. Slam. _Get away. _Slam. _Run away. _Slam. _Good girl. Good daughter. _Slam. _Good Doctor. _Slam, Slam, Slam._

I saw a tiny figure ahead of me. It was Jundar! She had stopped running, and was lying on the ground, spent, too tired to run any more now. Everyone was far up the hill, so small they seemed nothing more than titmice. Without thinking, I picked her up, carrying her in my arms like a bride. _Slam, Slam, Slam, Double Slam._

The TARDIS was at the top of the hill. I climbed up and leaned my back against it. Where was River? And how in the name of Seyoranicarumzi was I going to open this blasted box, anyway? She had the key.

"Wouldn't it be great," I said to the Wymvon girl in my lap, "wouldn't it be great if I could open the TARDIS with a snap of my fingers? Then I could just go like _that_" I snapped my fingers "and we could get in."

There was a squeak behind me, the door moved, and I found myself flat on my back, staring at the TARDIS' ceiling. How did I get in?

I really didn't care at the moment.

I picked up Jundar and carried her inside, laying her gently on one of the seats. I heaved on the doors. They wouldn't close. Great.

On a suspicion, I clicked my fingers. The doors swung shut. I grinned, then tried opening and shutting the doors a few more times, until the TARDIS slammed the doors and shook. "Sorry, girl," I whispered.

I got another suspicion. I swear, the TARDIS must run on hunches. "Old girl," I said, "You know where River is, and I know you know, so let's go get her! Let's go save River." I leaned my hands on the control panel. "How about it..." I paused, "...sexy?"

The TARDIS starting lever threw itself down. "ALL RIGHT!" I grinned, as it began to wheeze. I scrambled down the stairs. Time to explore. "Hey, you **_do _**know where she is, don't you?" A rumble from the very base of the TARDIS answered my question. "All right, I trust you. Mind if I check it out?" No answer. "Okay." I scampered down the stairs leading to the room below the control panel. There were a series of compartments around the center pole, and I popped them open one by one.

I rummaged through the compartments. What was I looking for? I didn't know. I dipped a hand in and came up with a sphere full of Carrionites. They sullenly glared at me. No more screaming, I guess. They probably all had hoarse throats by now.

I dipped in again and came up with an Agatha Christie book, then a cooked turkey, then a rubber chicken and a pair of 3-D glasses, then an oddly long coat that didn't fit. Next came strange-looking egg with wormlike protrusions, a sonic screwdriver patch repair kit, and a cloudy ball. Which blinked. And cursed at me in Italian when I poked it. A Cyberman head, a blue pair of socks, a red pair of socks, a green pair of socks, a high-heeled shoe, a jacket with patches on the elbows which _did _fit me, a half-disassembled Device, a couple Wymvoi feathers, a replica of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and a thin, flat box. I tucked the screwdriver into the patched jacket's pocket, put the jacket on, and turned my attention to the box. It had a tiny clasp in front. I slowly unfastened it and lifted the lid.

Well, of _course _it was a bowtie. Bowties are cool. I placed it around my neck and tried my best to tie it. Oh dad, _why _couldn't you just wear a clip-on? You're making life difficult for your daughter!

I dashed up the stairs to the control panel, still fiddling with the bow. I checked on Jundar, who had fallen asleep. The TARDIS engines murmured softly, like they didn't want to wake her. For a moment, I enjoyed the sound. Then I remembered River. "Okay, old girl," I muttered, twiddling switches. "Let's go find Mummy!"

The phone rang.

I scrambled too answer it. It's River. "Hey, where are you?"

Her voice was panicked. "Let me in! Please!"

I snapped, and the doors flew open. River stumbled into the room. I snapped again, and the doors swung shut as I saw a ball of flame rolling away from the Wymvon building. I threw the starting lever, then leaned on the control panel and looked at River.

Her hair was even more frazzled than usual, if that's at all possible, and singed at the edges. Her jean jacket had two holes burned straight through it. Both shoes were gone, and a strong smell of burnt plastic followed her in. She stumbled towards the control panel, staring at the floor. "Doctor..."

"Daughter," I corrected.

"I couldn't stop them. They were too big. I had six bullets and three blasts. I discharged them all."

"Where did the monsters come from?"

"I don't know."

I was stunned. "But you promised to protect the Wymvoi, no matter what! They'll die. You can't just leave them alone!" _Yes you can, _my ego said. _Shut up, _I told it.

"But I didn't leave them alone," River smiled.

Now I was equal parts relieved and confused. "You didn't? But you just left them."

"Not alone."

"Who's with them, then?"

She was beaming now, wide and real. She raised her eyes from the floor, straight to my face, and changed my perspective with two words: "Your father."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! My friend is very happy. Enjoy this chapter and keep reviewing!**

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**Chapter 4**

I reeled. My father? The Doctor? _Whathowwhenwherewhywhosit_?

"I'll explain later. Just get us out of here. Now!"

"Okay, okay! Gosh, River, I heard you the first time!"

River looked up from Jundar, who she had just noticed. "When did you start calling me River?"

"Ummmm..."

"It doesn't matter. Let's go!"

I threw the main lever, and the TARDIS began to _vworp _into time and space. An expression of rapture came over River's face, and she stared at me across the control panel. "How...? She's wheezing! What did you do?"

"I don't know, I just started her and she did!" Actually, I hadn't realized until that moment that the TARDIS _was _wheezing. It just sounded so natural, like I'd been hearing it all my life. This was the tune that had rocked me to sleep every night since I was born.

"River," I said, turning around to confront her, "You have some serious explaining to do. How can the Doctor not be dead? What happened to the Wymvoi? When did you see him? Just tell me the story!"

River sighed, and sat down with Jundar's head in her lap. "Okay. Your father is a time traveler. I assume you knew that." Of course I knew that. How could I ever forget meeting Martin Luther King and Einstein...on the same day?

"The way I understand it, what happened was this. A past version of the Doctor was traveling in his future, looking for trouble, as usual. Apparently, he got a cry for help on his psychic paper– well, I suppose it's your psychic paper now –with an X after it, our signal that it's me. A cry for help with a kiss. So he came haring down here at top speed, like he always does." Her eyes were shining. "He materialized inside the building as it was burning. I backed straight into his TARDIS, and fell flat on my back when the door opened." Funny, I had done that too. "I was just getting ready to scold you for coming into a danger zone without permission when somebody says 'Hello Sweetie.' So I turn around, and I guess I passed out or something because I was so surprised, because the next thing I knew I was lying on this seat" -she patted her seat- "this seat right here, and things were exploding outside, I could hear them. The Doctor was over there" -River pointed to the main lever- "just where that lever is, and he saw me wake up.

"He told me to stay exactly where I was. 'Don't move,' he said. So of course, I didn't budge an inch. He pulled some levers and twiddled a few knobs, and I told him not to leave the brakes on or something like that. Then he came over to check on me. I sat up, then immediately lay back down because my head was hurting like I'd just taken a Dalek blast. He crouched in front of my bench and told me what was going on.

"'We're going back in time a few seconds,' he said, 'and we're moving up the hill to where, I believe, your TARDIS is parked. I'll drop you right at the door. River,' he said, 'How is our daughter?' I almost cried, but I told him you were in the TARDIS up on the hill. Then he went into one of his 'clever' spells, and he started telling me all about how he was going to come right away, as soon as he had dealt with those rock-robots. He said he missed you, and asked how old you were, how tall you were, did you look just like me, did you look at all like him, the usual. I said you looked like his previous regeneration when you were upset, and nothing like his current self. But I take it all back, seeing you standing there in his bow tie and jacket. You look just like the Doctor." She trailed off, as mothers will do when mentioning their children.

"And then what happened?" I prompted, eager for information, grasping at any knowledge of my father.

"Then he said, 'I can't wait to see our daughter, and I'll bet she looks like you. You don't know how much I've missed you, River.' I told him that I _did_ know, because I'd been without him for two hundred years. I kissed him, of course, and suddenly two hundred years didn't matter all that much. When that was over, he told me we were landing, and offered me his telephone to call you with. I tumbled out of his TARDIS and into yours. You know the rest. Oh, and he sent you a message. Check your psychic paper."

I almost tore the wallet in my eagerness to open it and absorb its precious contents. _Doctor, Doctor, Doctor..._

* * *

_SoRRy I couldn't come see you Right away_

_Can't wait to see how you've gRown_

_Say hello to RiveR for me_

_I love you_

_- __DoctoR_

* * *

Not dead. How were you not dead? Are you immortal, time-traveling back to a living time when you are dying, to a dead place when alive? Or is this truly your last hurrah? Nobody can cheat death, Doctor, not even you.

Or can you?

A lord of time. Is time the cause of death? Not in your way. You would never die of age, oh no. Not with your lifestyle. You'd be killed nine times before you would regenerate because you were ninety, or nine hundred. Lord of Time, your end is in the simple accident, or the multi-faceted Revenge. So many die from poison now, Doctor. Of tasting the fruit of the world and finding it too bittersweet, choosing to taste no more rather than face it again and again and again. They are your true masters, Time Lord. They are the ones you cannot save. Time? It only takes a second. Then you have lost them, and they are gone. Control of time means none to a Dalek. Death and taxes...

Father. Mother. Jundar. Doctor. River. Kronos... Dark. Talk to me, dark, tell me your secrets, a magnet pull moving me through stars, darklightdarklightdark. Help! Mother! Grab my hand and pull me back! Something is dragging me away! Mother! "Mama!"

A hand clapped around my wrist, denim brushed my arm. A jerk, two voices, leather patches. River's voice. "Do we have to tie you down?"

"Stop it. She was beginning to teleport, and I don't know why. Magical disappearing acts are nothing to be trifled with. Another ship was tugging at her. Why?" Pacing feet. "Why, why, _why_? What alien would try to take our girl?"

_Our little girl. _Papa. Doctor. "Father!"

My eyes snapped open. I was lying on the floor of the TARDIS, face up. I sat up slowly, carefully. I staggered to my feet, started to fall, and caught myself with a stable am on the back of a chair. I could see River through blurred lids. The stable arm gave at the elbow, and I fell. Arms caught me under the elbows, hoisting me to my feet. Arms in a jacket just like mine.

I knew it was him before I turned around. He smelled of time, of numbers sprung from a clock and mixed, then dashed all over and through him like a breeze. There was a sort of electrical energy that came from him whenever he moved. I turned, and there he was. "Dad?"

"Hey." For a moment we both stared at each other. A million things ran through my mind. _The most dangerous man in the universe... My friend...Your father...The destroyer of worlds...Get off this planet...Love you...Missed you. _Then he raised his arms. Without hesitating, I ran into them.

We hugged, then he pulled back and looked at me. "Nice jacket," he said, grinning. "The bowtie, too. Bowties are cool."

"Missed you. Just a little bit."

"Yeah, a bit. Look at you! You're so tall! Pretty soon we'll have to put you in a whole new room! River, you lied, she looks _just_ like me."

"Yes," said River, "just like you 380 years ago."

"But she's got your nose– _thank god_ for that."

"At least she's not your ninth. Those ears you had...I swear they could fly an airplane!"

"I've got perfectly good ears, and here you go insulting them!"

"You didn't back then."

I was beginning to understand how the whole River-Doctor Dynamic worked. She missed him so much it hurt, but then when she saw him, she had to pretend she hadn't missed him at all. I realized then that my mother was the bravest person I knew. "Hey, Doctor."

The Doctor turned on his heels, coat flying behind him as he spun. "What, what is it? What have you got now, hey?"

"Look what I found in a compartment downstairs." I pulled the "sonic screwdriver" out of my pocket. "Why would you keep a replica when you've got the real deal?"

The Doctor stopped spinning. River froze as he reached over and gently picked up the sonic. He examined it with a funny expression on his face; sort of a mix of curiosity, confusion, understanding, and for some reason, sadness. He slowly lifted the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the TARDIS screen. It flickered, changed images, then began playing a song. He pressed a button on the handle, and the song changed. "That's no replica," he said. He pressed another button and the song turned off. He handed the sonic back to me. "Take care of it."

I took it from him, pointed it at the TARDIS screen, and started a slow song. The Doctor and River both looked at me, puzzled. "River's been waiting a long time," I said. "I think she deserves one dance."

"Oh," said the Doctor.

River smiled. He took her hand and they started to dance.

The Doctor was rubbish at dancing, but River wasn't. I don't think she minded when he tripped over himself. I turned to Jundar, just to check up on her, and when I turned back, the Doctor was dancing like the best of them. He spun River, letting her turn out, then winding her in and pulling back like he had never let her go. Together again, moving in unison. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the floor, and then they were floating. Just a few inches, hardly enough to be noticed, but there they were. Feet moving across the surface of the air, a spin, turn out, one person, four feet. A final turn, a dip, and it's gone. The song was over, final notes dying away into silence. They hesitated a moment, then kissed. I turned away.


End file.
